How much sun does the balcony get? Clematis do require a minimum of 5 or so hours of sun a day for proper photosynthesis although they might get by with less if they have bright indirect sun.

I would buy as large a pot as possible to help prevent the soil mass from freezing solid over the winter. I would also tend to stick with a type III clematis since the top growth is likely to get frozen back to the soil line each year and depending on your mom's microclimate, may not emerge until later in the growing season. If she goes with a type II, then she might not get blooms due to the length of her growing season.

Does she have somewhere she could move the pot over the winter so it wouldn't be exposed to the full brunt of the cold winds over the winter? Perhaps she has a storage closet on the balcony that the pot could be moved into over the winter?

The bottom line is that if she really wants to try growing a clematis on her balcony, why not give it a shot with a type III clematis, perhaps even a couple of integrifolias, in a large pot and see how they do? Trying to guess the microclimate for a specific location like that is going to be difficult and we have all found that experience and trial and error are the best ways to find out what we can get away with and what we can't.

Thanks Miguel! I think she's probably going to give it a try. She has a storage room in the condo that she could use.

Let us know which variety or varieties she tries and her experiences Violetta!

Of course! :0)

I grew a Cezanne, one of the patio clematis', in a container on my 2nd floor back deck for two years without any problems and it bloomed a good deal of the summer. I failed to pot it up and it orginally grew pot bound and died, at least I think that's what happened. I was living just outside of Boston at the time, in zone 6. Your mother shouldn't have a problem if she sticks with one of the smaller, more compact, i.e., patio clematis.

Please do keep us updated, I'd love to hear how she does.

Thanks! Just out of curiosity, what size pot did you have it in?